Boys’ Varsity Basketball Faces Close Loss at Final League Game

VICTORIA GAVIA

Co-Copy Editor

As the buzzer sounds, the boys’ varsity basketball team huddles around Head Coach Edwin McKinney to prepare to play their Almont League final. The Feb. 11 game at Mark Keppel was a very competitive match, though the team took a 44-50 loss, making their final season record 1-9.

Guard Alexander Quesada had a positive attitude in the beginning with the focus being on defensive tactics.

“Our main goal was to defend our basket and have strong defense to diffuse Mark Keppel’s players. It worked well in the first three quarters, but then we started getting tired,” said Quesada.

During the first quarter there were numerous turnovers to Keppel, but Alhambra’ defense tied the score 6-6. Due to fouls called on Keppel, the score remained tied at the beginning of the second quarter but the Moors’ later gained a seven-point lead.

“We were feeling good about the score. [Our] advantage was that we were finally playing as a team and taking out key players in Keppel’s arsenal,” said power forward  Chucky Wu.

However, the beginning of the second half was especially heated with both teams constantly scoring back and forth. Though the advantage stayed with AHS through the quarter with a score of 38-35, Keppel seemed to pick up their offense in the last quarter and also had several free throw opportunities due to various fouls and five-second violations called on AHS.

This change in game play has been a recurring problem that has led to losses in the past as well.

“In every game we somehow have this third quarter meltdown, which has been a real nuisance since the start of the season,” said Wu.

Starting off the final quarter, the score was still somewhat one sided. Only a few shots by the Moors, coupled with a series of two pointers by Keppel, quickly switched the advantage to the Aztecs.